Entry Writchal #2
Theme: Maid
Ellysian Bliss
Warm lights pouring through the glass window. Gentle breeze of the wind brushes your face. Swimming in the sea of dreams, you are pulled back into reality. Lying on a soft bed and covered in blanket, you feel your senses return to you. After three gentle knocks on the door, the door opened. As your senses return, footsteps draw closer and closer.
You tilt your head in confusion, a figure stands next to you.
The figure, dressed in a black dress, white apron, and a hairband standing in front of you. Holding a glass of water on a metallic tray, she smiled.
“Good morning, Master.”
You look around the strange room where you’re currently rested in. You do not recognize anything inside this room, and it looks luxurious. The room is decorated with antiques and paintings probably decades old, the walls were panelled out with astonishingly detailed carved wood, even the bed sheets felt so smooth as if it was made from high quality silk. To your right was a window which held a seaside view to the sienna painted sky as the sun was rising.
You start to sit up while one hand is still holding onto your head, trying to ease the discomfort coursing through it. You reach out to the glass of water presented in front of you by the unknown figure.
“Thanks”
You take a gentle sip out of the glass; lukewarm water starts to refresh your once desert-like throat. You drank it all up and put the now-empty glass on the nightstand beside you. You scanned the maid-like figure from head to toe, trying to figure out who she is. Long silky black hair, skin white as snow, eyes blue like the morning sky. She has a well-proportioned body that wasn’t too tall, and she seemed to be just a few years younger than you. Her looks are awfully familiar, but you can’t quite put your finger on it.
“I give up!”, you said while throwing your hands into the air.
“Would you like to introduce yourself young lady?”
She giggled a little and started to introduce herself. She said her name was Ellysia and she was hired by someone that she could not tell you about, to take care of you until you could stand up on your own two feet again. You looked at her quizzically and asked what she meant by that last part.
“You see Master, you just woke up from a coma. You’ve been sleeping for the past 3 months and right now, I don’t think you can even stand properly.”
You deny it and then try to prove her wrong by trying to stand up. Your legs felt so weak and trembled as you attempted to pull yourself up. Alas, your legs gave in, and your body started to fumble forward. Ellysia managed to catch you just in time and helped you to sit back on the bed. Holding in your embarrassment, you continued to ask Ellysia about your current situation.
“You are currently in a room inside my anonymous employer’s private mansion. They said you can rest here and use anything you may find inside this room, but not anything outside of here.”
Ellysia explained that this mansion is located very far out from civilization that you might not be able to access any communication technology while living there and thus Ellysia and one other person will be the only ones keeping you company in the mansion.
“There’s another one?”
Ellysia confirmed that there is another person currently in this mansion who’s tasked with housekeeping, to make sure the mansion is always at comfortable living conditions. You follow up her statement with questions regarding this other person’s appearance, but suddenly a loud Westminster chime echoed across the hallway. Ellysia apologetically dismissed your question and politely excused herself from your presence, she said she’ll be back in fifteen minutes. As Ellysia swiftly walked towards the door and opened it, you could see another figure was already waiting for her. You tried to make out the appearance of that small figure from a distance, but you can’t properly see due to the lighting of the hallway. Then Ellysia closed the door behind her.
Left alone in that large fancy room, you start to fidget anxiously. You looked at the small antique clock on the nightstand beside you, the longer hand pointing at seven while the shorter hand points at one. You try to find something to do while waiting for Ellysia to return. You rummage through the drawer in the nightstand and find a weird looking book.
It had a red hardback cover, probably a thousand pages thick, and looked very old. The front cover had the title and author embossed on it, it said “Elysium by Ember Rose”. Because you were bored and didn’t have anything to do anyways, you started to read through the first pages of the book. Unfortunately, some pages were damaged, and you couldn’t really make out much of it. But the part you understood was fairly interesting, it told a story of a hidden paradise in a secluded world far away from the rest of the universe. You had almost finished the first chapter, when you heard a knock on the door. Before you could answer, Ellysia’s voice was heard through the door,
“Master, would you like scrambled eggs or peanut butter toast for breakfast?” “Can you make both? I’m quite starving.”
“Absolutely, and would you like some tea to go with it?”
“Yup, make it sweet”
After confirming your request, Ellysia excused herself to prepare your breakfast. You then picked the book back up and something fell from inside it. It was a letter of some sort, written there it was addressed to Ellysia. You wonder if it would be okay for you to open it. You let curiosity get the better of you and opened the envelope. Inside was a message asking for Ellysia’s help in creating a “Paradise”, it was written in such beautiful words and distinguished handwriting that you could feel that this letter was written with tremendous affection.
You reach the end of the letter and oddly, there was no signature or anything else to signify who the sender was. You start to flip the letter around and look inside the envelope for any hints but couldn’t find anything. At that moment, a knock was heard on your door.
“Excuse me Master, your breakfast is ready. May I come in?”
“S-sure, sure, come in”, you said with a slightly shaking voice while at the same time trying to put the letter and envelope back into the book.
Ellysia opened the door and walked towards the bed carrying your breakfast on a silver tray. She looked at the book you’re holding, and a slight shock painted on her face. Acting undazed by the book, she proceeded to set up the breakfast on your bed.
“Did you find this book interesting Master?”, Ellysia asked while pouring tea into your cup.
“Uh… yeah, it was a nice fantasy read”, you could see that she was a bit anxious. “Say… Ellysia, was your name inspired by this book?”, you asked.
Ellysia smiled and said, “Yes, actually, my mother was the one who wrote that book.”
She continued to tell you stories about her mother and how her mother used to read that book to her before bed. She said that her mother passed away around two years ago and that that book was the only memory she had of her mother. Then Ellysia slowly shook her head,
“In any case, I am done with the preparations Master. Enjoy your breakfast.”
You stare in awe at how delicious the breakfast Ellysia prepared looks. The buttery yellow scrambled eggs looked like they were cooked until they were just set. You set aside the book you were holding and picked up the spoon next to the scrambled eggs. You pressed on the scrambled eggs lightly with your spoon and the eggs slightly gives in. You put that spoonful of scrambled eggs into your mouth, you could feel the soft and creamy texture of the eggs pouring in.
“Wow! This is amazing Ellysia, it’s just like what my mom used to make”
Ellysia blushed a little and thanked you for the compliment. You finish up your scrambled eggs and toast. You took a sip from the teacup and were a bit shocked, the sweetness of the tea was perfect. How could Ellysia possibly know all about your meal preferences?
“Hey Ellysia, have we ever met before? I mean before I was in a coma. I seem to not have any memories from the recent past. I can’t even remember what happened to me before I was in coma, but I do remember a bit of my childhood”
Ellysia tries to hide her nervousness by pretending to think.
“I…I don’t think we’ve met before Master. I just m-met you recently when my client h-hired me to take care of you. As f-for your memory loss, I think i-it was a side effect of your treatment while in coma”
You could tell she was very nervous from her answer, so you decide not to press about it any further.
After breakfast, you ask Ellysia to help you practice walking around the room. You move your body to the edge of the bed and Ellysia takes a sitting position next to you. Both of you held on to each other’s waist as Ellysia gently pulled you up from the bed. The two of you blushed and you could feel both of your hearts racing. You start walking awkwardly while resting some of your body weight on Ellysia’s body, which is not as small as you thought it was. You walk towards the painting across the bed that looks a bit like “The Scream” by Edvard Munch but painted in “The Starry Night” style and has two people in it.
“Ellysia, don’t you think the people in this painting kind of look like us?”, you said while trying to hold in your laughter.
“When you stare at it for a while, it does start to look a bit like us”
Both of you started to laugh lightly and started to comment on the other paintings too.
The day passed by and now it’s almost night time. The antique clock on your nightstand shows it’s currently six thirty in the afternoon. Ellysia excused herself to prepare for dinner, in the meantime she said Celestia will accompany you. You wonder and ask who Celestia was.
“She’s the other person I mentioned before Master”, Ellysia said while walking towards the door.
“She’s also my little sister”, she smiled and left the room.
A few minutes pass and a short figure enters your room with some cleaning supplies.
“Heya big bro!”, she said with a wide smile, showing off her cute fangs. But then, as if a sudden realization hit her, she coughed and said, “Ahem. I meant, good afternoon, Master”
You look at her and think, “She does look a lot like Ellysia, except for her fangs and hairstyle”. Immediately after that thought, you felt a sharp pain in your head. Celestia notices this.
“Are you okay Master? You seem to be in pain, is your head hurting?”
“Yea, but it’s no big deal, it should go away soon”
Celestia insisted that she’ll cast a magic spell to help relieve the pain.
“I didn’t know they were capable of casting magic”, you thought to yourself. She took a pink wand-like object from the pocket in her maid outfit. She starts to murmur something inaudible and shouts the last word “Cure!” while pointing the wand at you.
“Now I need to seal the spell with a kiss”, she said while running towards me and kissed you on the forehead. Then, she asked if you were feeling any better. Coincidentally, your headache did subside, but to be honest you don’t think it was because of her spell.
“Yeah, I feel better now! Thanks for the spell Celestia”, you said while patting her head. Her eyes light up while a victorious smile is painted across her face. You looked at her face and thought, “Is this really a face that is capable of housework?”
Amidst your thought, you remembered the letter you found earlier today and wondered if Celestia knew anything about it. So, you showed Celestia the letter you found inside the red book and asked if she knew anything about it.
“Hmmm… Nope! But I do recognize the handwriting! But I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that though Master”
Something’s weird here, Ellysia and Celestia are hiding something and clearly, they’re not doing such a good job. Celestia notices you thinking quite hard and decides to give you a clue. She said it was the handwriting of someone you knew. Considering that you only know four people as of now, it wasn’t hard to guess. You laughed a little and said, “I don’t think you thought that one through, did you?”
She thinks for a bit and realizes, “Ah! I forgot that you don’t know anyone else except for me and big sis… But I don’t think it’s a big deal if you do find out who that letter is from though, tehe~”
You asked what she meant by that, but she insisted it was a secret and she wouldn’t tell you no matter what. Celestia continued cleaning your room for a bit and soon after, Ellysia opened your room door with one hand holding a silver tray, which you assume is your share of dinner. She announced that dinner is ready for everyone. Celestia cheered and rushed out of the room. Ellysia walked towards you and prepared your meal; you contemplated whether you should ask her about the letter.
“Your food’s ready Master”, Ellysia said, snapping you back into reality.
“Is something wrong Master?”
You shook your head and dismissed her concern. Ellysia doesn’t seem convinced but plays along anyway. You enjoy your meal quietly while Ellysia sits beside you.
“You’re not going to eat dinner?”, you ask Ellysia. She says she’ll eat after you’re done. You tell her that she can just eat together with you. She declined your offer, but you insisted. So, she excused herself to take her share from the kitchen and returned with her meal a few minutes later. You both enjoyed the meal Ellysia prepared and it was exceptionally delicious.
After such a long day, you finally decide to hit the hay. Ellysia helps to tuck you in and then excuses herself to her room.
“Wait, Ellysia, where are you sleeping?”
“I have my own room right next to yours, Master”
You ask Ellysia to accompany you in your room tonight, she blushes. You thought that was probably a sign that she would agree, but to your disappointment, she declines. She said that might not be appropriate for a maid and a master, especially when the two of you had just met. So, Ellysia continued her way out while closing the door, the lights turned off automatically soon after.
***
The next day you wake up quite early, it’s still six in the morning, the lights are still off because the sun hasn’t hit your windows just yet. You kind of remember that the lights you had in your house were also sensor-based. Since the lights aren’t on yet, you turn on the lamp on the nightstand.
“Come to think of it, I used to own a lamp like this that I use in my room. But I don’t think this is mine, mine has a signature on the bottom of it.”
You stop for a while and try to remember whose signature was on your lamp back home. You’re pretty sure it was a signature from someone you hold dear. You stare at the lamp beside you. Surely that lamp can’t be the same one that you own. You fidget anxiously, but finally your piqued interest moves your body to lift up the lamp and sure enough there was a signature on the bottom of it. It was Ellysia’s signature.
“This must just be a coincidence, right? Maybe Ellysia just like to sign her belongings”
As you try to figure things out, Celestia enters your room with a set of cleaning tools, while skipping and humming. The lights turn on and Celestia notices you already awake, with a surprised tone she greets you and then starts to clean your room. You greet her back and then watch her do her thing.
“Say, Celestia, do you know why this lamp has Ellysia’s signature on it?”
“Hmm? Oh yeah, that’s because it was big sis’ Christmas present for you. They put it there to help you regain your memories”
You looked at each other for a moment, before Celestia went into panic. She told me to pretend that she didn’t say anything and immediately continued wiping the windows. This is getting a bit weird. How could Ellysia have given you a Christmas present when both of you had just met yesterday? And who are “they”? You wanted to ask for more details to Celestia but you’re
pretty sure she won’t tell you anymore than she has. So, you act like nothing happened and continue to idly chat with her.
After a while, Ellysia enters your room bringing you breakfast. A bowl of cereal with soy milk and a cup of sweet tea. Ellysia enters with a smile and then she greets you. You greet her back while she prepares your breakfast. You eat your breakfast and then you ask Ellysia to help you practice walking again like yesterday, this time you want to explore the mansion. Ellysia thinks for a bit and then agrees to your request. The two of you walk through the hallway, visiting the other rooms. Your legs seem to be stronger today, so Ellysia didn’t have to hold you so close to her body like yesterday. Oddly, you feel your heart drop a bit when you realize you didn’t need to hold Ellysia so close to you like before.
On your tour around the mansion, you get to see Celestia cleaning the other rooms, as well as tending the garden behind the mansion. She’s exceptionally fast and good at these things. You and Ellysia visited a huge library on the second floor, it was like two to three times bigger than your room… and your room was already pretty big. Ellysia explained that the owner of this mansion likes to collect a lot of antique and old stuff, including books. They’re exceptionally interested in romantic stories in the Norse and Greek mythologies.
“They said that these stories depict the truest form of love”, she said while showing you the romance section of the library.
You suddenly remember your best friend Nicolas who also had a love for mythologies. Nicolas would always bring in a new book every week to class to show you the magnificence of mythologies. He said his mother ignited his love for mythologies starting from a book about a paradise in Greek mythology.
His love for romance mythologies was on a whole other level that he started to desire bringing a lot of the stories he read into real life,
“If a guy started dating one of my sisters, I would have to put him through one hell of a test. Just like in these myths”
While reminiscing about that, you caught a glimpse of a book titled “Norse Mythology” with an eccentric bluish cover. You’re pretty sure Nicolas also had a book like that, he claimed it was a limited-edition book and that he was the only one to have it in the whole world. You look at the book and notice that there was a folded page in it. You unfold the page to reveal highlighted words on the page, the words were: “you”, “seek”, “closer”, “think”, “What”, “is”, “than”, “you”. Ellysia peeks from over your shoulder and gasps. You immediately turn your head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uhm… nothing, I just thought the book was uhm… d-damaged, yeah that’s it”
You stare at her for a while, and she avoids your eyes anxiously. Eventually you let it slide and just ask Ellysia if you could take the book to your room to read it. Ellysia said that you can’t as it would break the agreement with her client, however she can read it to you in your room occasionally if you want. You decided that won’t be necessary, you’ll just come back to the library with her if you wanted to look at the book again.
It’s almost noon, you ask Ellysia if you can watch her cook this time. Ellysia embarrassedly declined. She said that it would be very difficult to focus if you were there, but you insisted. So, Ellysia and you walk towards the kitchen. You sit across the counter where Ellysia is
cooking. You admirably stare at her while she prepares lunch. She blushes every time she catches your stare.
Why do you get the feeling that you’ve done this before?
Eventually the meal is ready, Ellysia prepares the dining room and then excuses herself to call Celestia. While waiting for them, you try to make sense of the highlighted words you found earlier. You stare at the omurice in front of you and suddenly an idea pops into your head. You sort out the words you remember and eventually reach the sentence that made most sense. “What you seek is closer than you think”
***
It’s been a week since you first woke up here in the mansion. You’ve been practicing walking around the mansion with Ellysia and Celestia for the past week. Your legs are a whole lot better now and you can walk by yourself. Unfortunately, your memory loss doesn’t seem to be getting any better and you haven’t found any further hints about the mysteries thrown at you the first couple of days.
Anyways, today you and Ellysia had agreed to have a picnic at the beach because you were bored and as a token of reward for achieving recovery. So here you are, in the garden gazebo enjoying tea while taking in the beautiful nature around you. Ellysia said she had a surprise for you so she would be a bit late and you decided to wait for her in the garden.
Eventually Ellysia shows up in her bathing suit. It’s a white swim dress decorated with floral marks. In her left hand she carries a basket of what you assume would be your lunch and her right hand holding the sunhat over her head. You sit there and stare at her with awe. Your heart beats faster as she approaches and greets you.
“Wow… just… wow”
“Is something the matter, Master?”
“I think there was something in my tea”
Ellysia started to panic, “Are you alright master? Do you feel lightheaded? Or maybe you have a stomachache?”
“I think it was drugged; cause right now I’m seeing an angel”
“You shouldn’t joke around about things like that Master”, she bashfully scolded me.
You compliment Ellysia on her looks a bit more before the two of you finally set off for the beach.
You guys arrive at the beach just before noon. The sound of the waves, the warmth of the sun, the sand under your feet, all these sensations combined brings a sense of relaxation and rejuvenation. You set up the picnic blanket and the umbrella then went to have a dip in the sea water. Meanwhile, Ellysia sets up the eating utensils on the blanket.
“Aren’t you going to join me in the water, Ellysia?”
She seems to be having an internal dilemma, but finally decided to accept your invitation. “I’ll join you after I put on some sunscreen Master”
“You would look beautiful even with tans, so don’t worry”
She blushes a bit, “I appreciate the gesture, but I have a certain medical condition with my skin that doesn’t allow prolonged exposure to sunlight.”
After she put on sunscreen, she joined you in the water. You both played around in the water, tried to compete on holding breaths longer, finding random objects in the water, and other classic games you could play.
Tired after playing around so much and because it’s already noon. You and Ellysia hop out of the water to enjoy the meals Ellysia brought. Today’s lunch theme must be Japanese because you could see some California rolls, gyoza, and mochi. The California rolls had imitation crab meat and cucumber in it, with sesame seeds as toppings. You gladly take a pair of chopsticks and lift a piece of California roll. You take a bite and immediately felt the crunchy sensation from the cucumber and sesame seeds. The slightly sticky and sweet rice makes it melt so satisfyingly in your mouth. You take a bit of each of the menu and Ellysia watches in amazement while she also eats her fill.
Finally, it was time for dessert. The mochi Ellysia made looks so yummy. They were colored mostly in green and red, Ellysia said they were filled with fruit-flavored ice cream. You absolutely love ice cream mochi. You take a bite out of a green one. The mochi was soft and chewy and the ice cream filling adds a burst of fruity flavor.
“This is really good, you want a taste?”, you say to Ellysia while holding out the half-bitten mochi to her.
“u-uhm… yes I would love to take a bite, Master”, she tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear before taking a bite of that green half-bitten mochi.
“Absolutely delicious right?”
“Y-yes, it’s very tasty”, Ellysia says while looking away.
You bring the last bite of mochi to your mouth, and you notice a subtle red shade on the mochi where Ellysia took a bite. You look at Ellysia’s lips and notice that she put on a different color of lip tint than what she usually uses. You eat the mochi and said, “That new lip tint looks good on you”.
“I-I couldn’t hear that properly Master, what did you say?”
“I-I said that lip tint looks good on you”, while you scratch your head nervously “T-th-thank you”, she says while fidgeting her fingers.
After the meal, you spend the rest of the afternoon just laying down on the blanket while Ellysia sits beside you. You start to do some cloud watching and make out different animals and characters from the clouds you see. Ellysia joins in and then the two of you start to take turns pointing at random clouds, competing on who could make up a figure faster.
“Those clouds look so fluffy and soft to lay on don’t you think? Wish I had something like that to lay on right now.”
“Is the blanket not soft enough Master?”
“Nope, I’d like to request something softer… like your lap”, you point towards Ellysia. She blushes and then pats on her lap, “Since today is special, go ahead”
You do a little celebration with your hands and took the offer. You’re now laying on Ellysia’s lap and continue to do cloud watching, even though you can’t see as much of the sky as before.
The afternoon passes and it’s almost sundown. You and Ellysia pack your things and start to head back to the mansion. On the way back you start to think to yourself, “Ellysia is such a lovely girl, when I finish my treatment here, I would love to make her my girlfriend and bring her back home”.
Arriving at the mansion’s back garden you hear a helicopter coming from not too far away. You turn around to look at the helicopter, it didn’t seem to belong to the military, it was a classy white helicopter with the initials “N.I.” written on the side of it. As you caught a glimpse of the initials, you experience immense pain in your head, it felt like your head was going to explode. You stumble and start to hyperventilate. You feel a lot of memories flowing into your head. Ellysia tries to calm you down while stroking your back. You start to piece together all the clues. You now remember who Ellysia and Celestia really are and the so-called “anonymous client”.
When you finally calmed down and regained strength, the helicopter descended behind the mansion’s garden. You feel the subtle wind blowing from the helicopter blades as it lands. Celestia runs towards where the helicopter was landing. Ellysia helps you to stand up and from where you stood, you could see a figure of a man around your age in a suit and wearing a fedora stepping down from the helicopter. Celestia hops to hug him,
“Welcome back Big Bro!”
There’s no mistaking it, that’s him, that’s Nicolas. He approaches you and says, “Yo! Long time no see. Seems like you’ve passed my test”
***
To be continued… or not?
Writer: Anonymous